Xavier's First Day of Preschool
Hello and greetings to everyone!
Today Xavier started school. (You can see him wearing his T-shirt with the school logo on it in the above image). It's amazing how much work goes into preparing to drop him off. Do I have enough snacks? What snacks are best? Are two bottles enough for his four hour stay? How shall he be dressed? The list seemed endless. Time eventually ran out, making all choices mute: what was packed was going.
Xavier, at the end of a week without his mother (who was in Washington DC at Guard Bureau), was not too thrilled to see the classroom. We were the first of three to show up, look around and have the first-day orientation, which was geared for the parents: what to unpack when we get there, where to put the stuff once it's unpacked, how to sign in, where to read the lesson plan. During all of this, Xavier got to run around and explore the room if he liked. The teachers also wanted to know a number of specific details about Xavier. We filled out a questionnaire a week prior; both teachers studied it and knew the information we provided, and wanted further detail to better serve Xavier. I was impressed they had committed the information to memory, rather than read it from a sheet of paper they picked up while coming in to the classroom.
After our orientation, other parents started arriving, and got their walk-throughs. During this time, Xavier was typically clingy. He knew something was afoot, and he was begging me not to let him be part of it. One of Xavier's teachers, seeing Xavier's reluctance to detach from Dad's pant leg, came over with a basket of toys. She was trying to make him feel comfortable like the other boy who was already pulling firetrucks from the toy bins and firing up their sirens.
Eventually, the shiny things in the room and the activity of the his other two classmates piqued Xavier's interest. He began to explore on his own.
When I left the room, he cried. I headed back to the car feeling inadequate. I wondered if I would miss something of interest (and picture-worthy) as our little man took a deeper step into the world. What new things might he experience and I and Rebecca not be there to enjoy it. As a consolation, I did come away knowing what items to pack, and how better to pack them.
When I arrived to pick Xavier up, the Bumblebees (Xavier's class) were outside. Xavier was playing with two big steering wheels and honking the horn. I followed the Bees back to the room (two children where pulled in a wagon, and Xavier was carried—probably because he would have tried crawling out of the wagon, even with its high side gates). I was informed how and what Xavier did during his half-day, and asked several more questions about him. One of the teachers showed me his class work. This week's lesson was the letter "H" and circles. (Because the class started so late, the lesson is "H", but A through G will be caught up on I was told). The teachers wanted me to know how interested Xavier was in the textures of the materials used in the study of circles and how the stamps and paint fascinated him.
Here is Honey the Horse. The alphabet is taught with a sound, and action and an animal. At the bottom left you can see how Honey takes on the shape of a lower case "h". Also visible, Xavier's "visionary" use of Crayola crayon color.
In the circles paper (both it and Honey now hang on our refrigerator door), you can see where Xavier explored the texture of the ink used to make the circles.